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From: elvis@hammond.cs.unlv.edu (Frederick Haab)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Re: REPLACING 286 MOTHERBOARD WITH 386
Message-ID: <1991Jun15.004351.11944@unlv.edu>
Date: 15 Jun 91 00:43:51 GMT
References: <1991Jun14.164755.3515@eagle.lerc.nasa.gov>
Sender: news@unlv.edu (News User)
Reply-To: elvis@jimi.cs.unlv.edu (Frederick Haab)
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Organization: UNLV Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
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In article <1991Jun14.164755.3515@eagle.lerc.nasa.gov> tostan@mars.lerc.nasa.gov writes:
>Suppose I have a 286 pc with a floppy and hard disk, and a VGA monitor.  Can
>I simply pull out the 286 mother board and replace it with a 386?  Or does it
>have to be a 386SX?  I don't have a pc, but I want to learn some things now
>before buying.  Will hard disk controller cards and VGA cards work in both
>286 and 386 machines?  What's the difference between an "8-bit VGA card" and
>a "16-bit VGA card"?  Will they both work on 286 and 386 systems?  Thanks.
>
>+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
>|  Stan Mohler Jr.  <---------internet--------->  tostan@scivax.lerc.nasa.gov  |
>|  Research Engineer, aircraft icing                                           |
>|  NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH                                   |
>+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+


There is a difference in the way 286 and 386 get memory (16 and 32
bits? anybody?), a 386sx is a 386 processor in a 286 chip, which is
why they are slower then a 386dx (the normal 386), I believe you 
would have to get a 386sx, but there is also the matter of
changing the clock speed.  For this type of upgrade I think you
would need an upgrade "kit" that takes care of all the little
things involved with changing processors as well as changing the
processor itself.  BTW, a kit is still limited in memory access
as your system is now.

--Frederick Haab